January 22nd, 2006
Bellsouth targets Google with cyberextortion?
Regarding BellSouth’s alleged attempt to charge Google blood money so that the telco’s customers could access Google’s Web sites, Doc Searls writes:
BellSouth wasn’t thinking. They were doing what big carriers always do, which is look for ways to make big money with tiered service to big customers. Dumb, perhaps, in this case; but predictable.
If this attempt to treat Google as though its HBO or some other premium cable channel is true, I’m not surprised. Check out the cellcos. They’re already doing something very similar by hardwiring specific content sources into their services instead of figuring out a way to come up with the best overall Internet experience on their handsets where the user chooses the content. For some reason, they all think they’re running a cable TV network. When are they going to realize that the Internet isn’t cable TV? The old Cable TV model is dead. Hasn’t anybody noticed how many of the major cable channels are making their content available through their Web sites? By the way, Searls cites Cory Doctorow who cites ex-ZDNetter Preston Gralla.
